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SkyClan's Destiny/Chapter 3
Chapter description :Leafstar wakes up and moonlight is slanting in the entrance to her den. A voice had woken her, though now all is silent except for the river. She rises and arches her back, shaking moss scraps from her pelt. She leaves her den and walks down the trail until she reaches the edge of the water. At the foot of the Rockpile, she sees Bouncefire, Tinycloud, and Rockshade keeping vigil. They do not acknowledge Leafstar when she nods to them as she passes. She goes to the new dens. The boulders glisten with frost, but Leafstar is not cold, and actually feels warm and light. She scrambles up the rocky cliff race and reaches the largest of the new dens, going inside of it, and shaking snow from her paws. She notes to herself that she was right, and that this will make a good den. As she thinks this, she hears a voice agreeing that her cats will be safe her. Leafstar spins around at the sound, and sees another cat at the cave entrance. Leafstar scents a sweet, unfamiliar scent. Only when the cat steps forward does she recognize Spottedleaf. The SkyClan leader wonders what she is doing there. :Spottedleaf paces forward, pelt glittering with starlight, until she is close enough to brush against Leafstar's fur, her scent wreathing around them. She greets Leafstar. The tabby she-cat hoarsely asks if she is dreaming, as she is still not used to dead cats walking in her mind and talking to her. Spottedleaf dips her head, saying that to Leafstar's Clanmates, is is asleep. She mentions that the three new warriors hadn't even blinked when their leader had walked by. Leafstar responds that she assumed they were obeying vigil rules, and Spottedleaf murmurs that she doesn't doubt that they are, and notes that if SkyClan needs new dens, then they must be doing well. :The SkyClan leader explains that they had been exploring, curious what the caves might be used for. Spottedleaf's eyes search Leafstar's face, and she asks if the Clan is well, to which Leafstar replies that they are fine, though she doesn't share her concern of the daylight warriors, and she asks how Firestar and Sandstorm are. The StarClan she-cat replies that they are good and that they have kits- two daughters. Leafstar is very pleased by this, and says to tell Firestar how happy she is for them. To her surprise, however, Spottedleaf says she will but doesn’t seem as pleased as she should be. The tortoiseshell she-cat adds that Leafstar has the hardest task of any Clan leader, building a Clan from cats who don't know the warrior code. Leafstar points out that she is doing her best, and Spottedleaf replies that she is doing well, but that there is a long way to go before their futures are secure. The SkyClan leader stiffens at this, curious at what Spottedleaf knew but wasn't sharing. She is about to defend her Clanmates when the ThunderClan cat beckons her to the cave entrance with a wave of her tail. :Looking out, Leafstar sees several unfamiliar cats in the bottom of the gorge. She is first nervous at strangers invading the camp, till she realizes that their fur glimmers with starlight and that their bodies were almost transparent. Three more go into the elders' den, leaving only two behind at the entrance to Echosong's cave. Leafstar asks who they are, but Spottedleaf does not reply. :The voice of the bigger cat, a dark brown tabby tom is faintly heard, asking if a Clan would ever live there again. The other, a paler brown tom, dips his head and murmurs something Leafstar can’t hear, though she senses great sadness from both cats. The smaller cat raises his head, saying this was the leaf-bare of his Clan, and that though Greenleaf would come, it would bring even greater storms. He says that SkyClan needs deeper roots if it is to survive. :Leafstar asks if it is a warning of maybe a prophecy, remembering her flood dream from the night before. No answer comes from Spottedleaf though, and when Leafstar turns around she sees that the cave is empty. Leafstar shivers as she looks out the gorge and sees that the shadowy cats had vanished. :A heartbeat later, Leafstar opens her eyes and finds herself curled up in her nest, dawn light seeping through the den entrance. She blinks in confusion at the words of the small brown tom, wondering what he meant by ‘greater storms’ and ‘deeper roots’. :As Leafstar wakes up and leaves her den, she sighs when she hears Bouncefire, Rockshade, and Tinycloud bickering over where to hunt. The three young warriors are crouched at the bottom of the Rockpile. Leafstar goes to break up the argument, but Sharpclaw appears from the warriors' den, and Leafstar decides to watch her deputy handle the quarrel. :Sharpclaw chastises the warriors about keeping vigil instead of waking up the camp. Rockshade defends himself saying that it was dawn so the vigil was over, and Tinycloud adds that they had wanted to go hunting. Sharpclaw says that he finds it that to be interesting, as he thought it was the deputy who had always set the patrols. At this the new warriors hang their heads, and Sharpclaw assigns Rockshade to border patrol with him, and for Bouncefire to join Patchfoot on a hunting patrol. When Tinycloud asks what she should do, Sharpclaw tells her to go with Cherrytail on the other border patrol, and once again reminds the three not to ‘squabble’ again. :Leafstar gives her deputy an approving nod as he stalked away and is pleased that she didn’t have to intervene. She heads toward the medicine cat’s den, and from behind her, hears Tinycloud remarking how she's glad that at least she could stay away from Echosong's den that day, and that if the medicine cat caught her, the white she-cat would have to fetch herbs again. Leafstar almost tells the young she-cat to help with Echosong, but doesn’t want to countermand Sharpclaw. She notes that she’ll make sure Tinycloud does help the medicine cat again though, so that every cat would understand a medicine cat's roles. :Leafstar slips into Echosong's den, and the young medicine cat is bent over herbs that are stored in cracks at the back, listing their names. When the SkyClan leader greets her, Echosong jumps, and relaxes when she sees Leafstar. The two touch noses. Echosong mentions that she is glad that her Clan leader is here, as she had a dream last night that might have been important. Leafstar's pelt tingles, since she was planning on telling her medicine cat about her dream. She wonders if it was more than a coincidence, and prompts Echosong to tell her more. :The silver-gray she-cat explains that when she woke up she heard quiet voices outside her den, and when she looked out she saw a dark tabby and a pale brown tom, starlight glimmering in both their furs. Leafstar is wary, as they are the same cats form her dream, and asks if they had said anything. Echosong nods, mentioning that the big tabby had said, “It is time to leave. Our last duty is completed,” and that they walked up the gorge. The smaller cat turned and said that it was the leaf-bare of his Clan, and that though Greenleaf would come, it would bring even greater storms; that SkyClan needs deeper roots if it is to survive. Echosong asks her leader what she thinks he might mean. :Leafstar replies that she didn't know, but that it clearly meant something as she had the same dream. When Echosong asks if it was the exact same, the brown tabby replies that it was similar enough, and that Spottedleaf had been there too. The medicine cat looks briefly envious, claiming that she wished she had seen the StarClan cat, as she had so many questions about herbs. Leafstar comforts her, saying that Fawnstep might visit the silver tabby that night, though in her mind she is curious why Spottedleaf is so interested in SkyClan. :The two she-cats discuss what the dream might have meant. Leafstar murmurs that the small tabby was warning them, and the two ponder on what worse things might come for SkyClan and what ‘deeper roots’ mean. Leafstar then mentions her dream from the night before, with the floodwater pouring down the gorge, and guesses that the two dreams are connected. Echosong agrees, and asks if they should share the dreams with their Clanmates. Leafstar disagrees, at least until the prophecy is clearer, to prevent her cats from panicking. She says that it will be best for the Clan, and that they must discuss any other visions in private till they figure out their ancestor's message. Characters Major *Spottedleaf }} Minor *Unnamed pale brown tom (most likely Brackenheart) *Tinycloud *Rockshade *Bouncefire *Sharpclaw *Echosong }} Mentioned *Firestar *Sandstorm *Leafkit (unnamed) *Squirrelkit (unnamed) *Patchfoot *Cherrytail *Fawnstep }} Notes and references Category:Chapter subpages Category:SkyClan's Destiny Category:Super Edition arc